‘Grief’ mode is a unique and fan-favorite multiplayer game mode introduced in Black Ops 2 Zombies, developed by Treyarch. It was part of the Zombies experience and offered a competitive twist on traditional cooperative survival. Today we will discuss the of the return of the ‘Grief’ mode from Black Ops 2, how ‘Grief’ will work inside of Black Ops 6 Zombies Season 4, and which maps could support it. Here is what you need to know:
Grief Mode Release Date in Black Ops 6 Zombies
‘Grief’ has been a mode Treyarch has been hinting at a return of since Black Ops 4, but was ultimately scrapped due to budget restraints and Treyarch being put on development for Black Ops Cold War.
Just recently, Treyarch posted a teaser on Twitter that states “Only One Can Win” alongside two images of Project Janus Richtofen and the other with S.A.M.
It’s speculated by the community that, the teaser could be hinting towards a challenge event. Maybe even the possibility of DLC 4 (Janus Towers) having multiple Easter Egg endings (similar to Buried from Black Ops 2). However, the tweet was teasing a classic party mode called ‘Grief’ returning to Zombies.
In a recent blog post, ‘Grief’ was announced to be returning to Call of Duty in Black Ops 6 Zombies in Season 4. The fourth season of content is set to release on May 29th & the mode will be available on launch.
How will ‘Grief’ in Black Ops 6 work?
In Black Ops 2, ‘Grief’ was available for a few select survival maps on Green Run (Town, and Farm), Mob of The Dead (Cellblock) & Buried. ‘Grief’ was a 4v4 competitive experience where two teams of four (humans vs humans) are placed in the same small survival map. Their goal? Outlast the opposing team at all costs.
Grief Arenas & Features
Just like in BO2, maps will be sectioned off into smaller sub-sections or ‘arenas’ for this PVP mode. All 8 players will spawn on opposite sides of the arena. Initial features of these ‘arenas’ will be:
In-Game Joining & Respawns
Any player that is not in the game will have up until Round 10 is completed to join mid-match. This will be disabled however if a team has captured zones back to back. Revives will be available at any time if downed, & a respawner wave will go into effect every third round. This will revive all downed/eliminated players from all teams.
Core Mechanics
Any crucial doors needed within the arena will already be opened & the power will be active. Any other door buys leading to other sections of the map will be inactive, restricting players to that specific ‘arena’ area.
The Pack-A-Punch machine, Perk Machines, Gobblegum Machine, Mystery Box, Arsenal, Armor Wall Buys, Crafting Tables, & Der Wunderfizz Machine will be available in Grief Arenas. They will either be available in their regular spots, or a new one if they don’t exist already in the ‘Arena’ space. For example, if Speed Cola isn’t usually in the spot on the main map where the ‘Grief Arena’ takes place, a spot will be designated for it.
(It will be interesting to see how ‘Grief’ will work alongside GobbleGums this time around, considering the original ‘Grief’ mode back in Black Ops 2 didn’t offer any type of GobbleGum system.)
Salvage also will work a bit differently as unlike in Standard Zombies, Salvage pickups will count for 100 salvage in Grief. Visible to all, it will only count for the first person to grab it.
Rounds will also progress a lot faster in Grief than they would in Standard Zombies. You should expect & anticipate all enemy types, as well as the amount of them to be scaled up to account for all 8-players. If all zombies aren’t killed by players within a designated amount of time, the round will progress forward.
It would be cool if Treyarch could implement proximity chat into the mode as that would would make the experience more engaging for all players.
Restrictions
All Wonder Weapons are restricted in the Grief mode. The following Gobblegums have also been restricted from use in the mode:
- Wonderbar!
- Idle Eyes
- Time Out
- Exit Strategy
- Flavor Hex
It’s also been noted that they’ll be keeping an eye on the mode as to make changes &/or more restrictions as the mode goes on. This will be to ensure a balance in the mode for a smoother experience to all players.
Indirect PVP Encounters
Similar to how to worked in BO2, you won’t be able directly eliminate your enemies, you’ll be able to indirectly grief your opponents. You can do this through body blocking, melee attacks, equipment, or firing your weapons at them.
Capture Zones
One of the new features in ‘Grief’ is the goal of capturing zones. Periodically, zones will appear around the arena. These zones will require players to stand in the perimeter & kill zombies to capture it within a time limit. Once you’ve secured enough undead kills, your team will capture the zone & inflict a ‘grief’ onto the enemy team.
These are essential to survival & victory for one reason. If neither team reaches the required kills within the zone before the count is up, a grief will be applied & affect both teams. Meaning all will be afflicted if no one participates.
Types of ‘Griefs’
What are ‘griefs’ exactly? ‘Griefs’ can be considered as temporary penalties, debuffs, or negative gameplay inflictions that can harm the enemy team & lead to their downfall. As stated before, you inflict these through capturing Zones. These are the various types of ‘griefs’ you can deal to your opponents:
- Zombie Ambush
- This grief will temporarily summon an elite zombie to attack the enemy team. It will ignore you & your team entirely & will only disappear after either it’s killed or once the timer expires.
- Frozen
- Brought to you by Jack Frost himself, this will reduce the enemies mobility, covering them in frost & ice. A big inhibitor when facing super sprinters or elites.
- Weapon Nerf
- The ‘Weapon Nerf’ grief will lead to affected players dealing far less damage to the undead. A major blow when facing enemies like the Elder Disciples or Abominations.
- Weapon Carousel
- Enemy players affected by this grief will have their weapons randomly shuffled in a game of weapon roulette every few seconds. Hope you know how to use each weapon.
- Ammo Drain
- This final grief will lead to enemies weapons being drained of ammo. This includes their stowed weapons. Nothing worse than pulling out your backup weapon, only to find out it has less ammo or is empty.
Capture Zone Score
A new score type is also to be introduced in Grief. You can earn this score by doing the following:
- Capture Zone Win
- Attain this by successfully capturing a zone to completion.
- Capture Zone Kill
- Earn this by successfully eliminating zombies during a zone capture.
- Capture Zone Elite Kill
- Claim this by eliminating an Elite that spawns during a zone capture.
How to Achieve Victory
The winning conditions for Grief are simple. You want to outlast the opposing team in order to claim victory. You’ll want to try ‘griefing’ your opponents, leading to them either getting downed or killed by the undead. How do you grief your opponents? Let’s take a look at a few methods:
Which Maps will Grief Support in Black Ops 6 Zombies?
As stated earlier, ‘Grief’ mode from Black Ops 2 did cut off sections from Green Run, Mob of The Dead, & Buried. With that being said, Treyarch confirmed all maps will be available for the ‘Grief’ Mode.
These smaller sub-sections are known also as the aforementioned ‘Grief Arenas’. The following POIs of each map will be separately available as ‘Grief Arenas’:
- Terminus Island – 2 Arenas
- Bio Lab
- Crab Island
- Liberty Falls – 2 Arenas
- Motor Lodge, Pump & Pay, & Liberty Lanes
- Hilltop, Cemetery, Dark Aether Church
- Citadelle Des Morts – 1 Arena
- Ramparts, Courtyard, & Entrance Hall
- The Tomb – 2 Arenas
- Mausoleum, Dig Site
- Dark Aether Nexus
- Shattered Veil – 4 Arenas
- Lower Terrace, Garden Pond
- Motor Court, Upper Terrace, Shem’s Henge
- Mansion Foyer, Library, East Foyer, Overlook
- West Hallways, Bottlery, Southwest Balcony
Challenges, Rewards, and Storyline in Black Ops 6 Zombies Grief
For narrative speaking, it’s gonna be intriguing to see if Treyarch will have the ‘Grief’ mode canon to the Dark Aether storyline, such as explaining how one group could be Richtofen followers and the other being S.A.M. supporters.
In terms of scale, ‘Grief’ was released for the PS3 & Xbox 360 and was overall a very slow passing mode (especially the earlier rounds); however, it will be interesting to see what Treyarch will have in store for players as, they could expand with the mode, considering they have access to much better hardware.
For challenges & rewards, it’s a possibility players could earn: free GobbleGums, Operator Skins, blueprints, etc, for winning a match of ‘Grief’ or completing certain challenges during a match.
THE END
That’s all the information and speculations we have for the mode ‘Grief’. For a full breakdown of this topic, check out our video here:
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